2013. 4

The article concerns the geopolitical concept of the “Shia Crescent”, a term that has become widely spread in Western and Arab political discourse over the last decade. The article studies the problems of Sunni-Shii relations through one of the programs of “Al-Jazeera”, a leading Arab satellite channel; the conducted analysis proves that regional media are constructing a negative image of the Shiis in public opinion. Although mutual antipathy between Sunnis and Shiis has a centuries-long history, latest developments have created new impulses for this antagonism.

The article examines the concept of Waqf in contemporary India as well as the waqf system structure, which was shaped in the country after 1947. In focus are the main problems of the Indian waqf system, particularly the legal and administrative difficulties of the past decades.

The article is dedicated to the analysis of the role and place of Buddhist heritage in the formation of all-national identity in modern India, where Buddhist ideas are incorporated into the governmental strategy of unification of the state and interpreted as a composite part of cultural foundations of South Asian civilization, strengthening the links between the peoples inside the boundaries of contemporary state.

Contrary to the opinion spread in some studies on the history of Islamic thought, a tendency to revive and reform Islamic practices with direct reliance on the sacred texts of the Koran and the Sunnah was common among some Muslim thinkers not only in Egypt but also in Ottoman Syria. And the mentioned tendency practically met no resistance provided that the principle of sacred Sultan’s reign was not challenged by this or that Muslim scholar. The represented article is devoted to the analysis of the activities of some Salafi-minded Islamic scholars (ulama) in Damascus during the reign of Abdul Hamid II. A special attention is paid to the personality of sheikh Jamal al-Din al-Qasimi.

This article analyses Epichristian forms of monastic philosophy (of selfless devotion) in ancient Georgian hagiographic literary monuments, in particular, in the cycle “The Lives of the Thirteen Syrian Fathers”, and in the writing of Georgian hagiographer Giorgi Merchule “The Vita of Grigol Khandzteli”. This paper depicts lay brothers (novice) of Tao Klardjeti desert town, who, while mastering the experience of mountain seclusion of Syrian anchorites, pursued an occupation in the cells. This article traces gradual transformation of the status of “leading brother” of Anchorites into leader of monastery.

This publication is based on the presentation made in the 26th Congress of the Union Européenne des Arabisants et Islamisants (UEAI) which took place in Basel, Switzerland in September 12–16, 2012. The motto of the congress was Arabic and Islamic Studies in Europe and Beyond. The publication is dealing with the major stages in the history of the translation of the Muslim scripture into Russian and reconstruction of the comprehensive panorama of Qur’anic studies as an essential part of Arabic and Islamic studies.